Life changed faster than they expected.
School uniforms were folded and placed inside wardrobes.
Old notebooks, familiar routines, morning assemblies—everything quietly became memories.
Arindam joined a college at one end of the city.
Barsha enrolled in another, miles away.
Their mornings now began on different buses.
Different classrooms.
Different faces.
And yet, sometimes when a soft breeze touched his face, Arindam felt as if the scent of that old classroom window had followed him.
New Crowds, Old HabitsOn his first day of college, Arindam stepped into a noisy lecture hall filled with strangers.
Without thinking, he searched for a seat near the window.
A new friend laughed.
"Why do you always choose the window seat?"
Arindam smiled slightly.
"Habit."
But he knew it was more than habit.
Across the city, Barsha sat quietly in her own new classroom.
No one there knew she became emotional when it rained.
No one knew why she preferred the middle row.
After class, she took out her phone and typed:
Barsha:
"Today I realized the middle row isn't that bad."
A few minutes later, her screen lit up.
Arindam:
"The window seat is still empty."
Barsha couldn't help but smile.
Between Busy DaysFor the first few months, they talked almost every night.
Calls during study breaks.
Shared laughter over video calls.
Small updates about professors and assignments.
One evening Barsha teased,
"So… is there anyone in your college to explain English to you now?"
Arindam replied,
"No. I finally understand it myself."
"Oh really? Then you don't need me anymore?"
"I need you the most."
There was a pause.
"Why?" she asked softly.
"Because you don't just explain English… you understand me."
The Quiet GapBut time has a way of shifting things quietly.
Projects piled up.
Exams approached.
New friendships demanded attention.
One day, Arindam didn't text at all.
Barsha waited.
Till evening.
Till 11 p.m.
Finally she wrote,
"Were you busy?"
The reply came thirty minutes later.
"Yes, project submission. Sorry."
It was a small word.
But something inside her felt slightly unsettled.
He wasn't like this before.
Over the next few weeks, the conversations became shorter.
Love hadn't faded.
But silence had started finding space between sentences.
One afternoon it rained.
Barsha stood by her college window, watching the drops fall.
No one stood beside her asking,
"Scared of thunder?"
She sent him a picture of the rain.
His reply came quickly:
"Stuck in class."
She typed just one word.
"Oh."
Sometimes a single word carries too much weight.
The Unexpected MeetingDuring winter break, they decided to meet near their old school.
The gate was locked.
The building stood quiet, almost distant.
Barsha smiled faintly.
"The doors are closed for us now."
Arindam looked through the bars of the gate.
From afar, he could still see that classroom window.
"Closed doors don't mean everything ends," he said softly.
Barsha studied his face.
"You've changed."
He paused.
"In a bad way?"
"No… just a little distant."
The air felt still.
"I'm not distant," he replied. "I'm just walking toward the future."
"And me?" she asked.
"You're already in it."
Her eyes shimmered.
"Then hold my hand a little tighter sometimes.
Otherwise I start feeling like I'm walking alone."
Arindam gently took her hand.
"I won't let go."
End of Chapter TwoThere was no rain that day.
Yet the air carried the memory of it.
Distance doesn't always weaken love.
Sometimes it teaches you how precious it is.
And that seat beside the window—
it was no longer just a place.
It had become their promise.
🌧️💛